Photographs Taken of People in East Phillips Neighborhood, MPLS.
Saturday, May 12th 6pmÂ
Phillips Garden 2646 Cedar Ave So
$5-10 Suggested Donation
Ten extraordinary photographs will be unveiled in East Phillips Neighborhood on May 12th. Photographer Amanda Spencer spent the summer of 2011 meeting the people of East Phillips Neighborhood, interviewing them and taking their pictures. Her project SEEING PHILLIPS & SEEKING UNDERSTANDING uncovers the daily lives, celebrations, and quiet diversity of an inner city neighborhood.
The fully public installation within East Phillips will have a gala opening with dancers from the East Phillips Nepali community. The display on the front lawn of Phillips Garden, 2646 Cedar Ave. So., will run for 2 months.
As an emerging young artist in Minneapolis, Amanda Spencer focuses on cultural, social and personal identity. Beginning with the nerve-wracking moment last April when she got out of her car in an unknown neighborhood, Amanda took pictures and was given friendship throughout the community. Her work invites the viewer to consider the dignity of Minneapolis”' most diverse neighborhood. The SEEING PHILLIPS & SEEKING UNDERSTANDING project reveals the humanity of Phillips neighbors not the stereotypes that surround them. The photographs are presented with personal stories written by the people in them. This accessible outdoor installation is meant to act as a gathering spot for the neighborhood and a celebration of their community.
Amanda Spencer found financial support for the project on the crowd-sourced fund-raising site Kickstarter, which caused her project to later be included in Kare 11”'s story on Kickstarter. The project was also shown at the 2011 national conference of Imagining America: Scholars and Artists in Public Life, where she was awarded a PAGE Undergraduate Fellowship.
The East Phillips photography installation, opening on May 12th 2012, shines light on the people of the diverse East Phillips community.
www.akspencer.com/eastphillips (artist statement & photographs)
www.akspencer.com/eastphillipsintroduction (introduction to the book East Phillips)
